14 April 2010

22 March 2010

Press Releases

Researchers analyze genome of plant pathogen - Findings could lead to new ways to combat „downy mildew“

Frankfurt, December 20, 2010. A team of international researchers including Marco Thines, PhD , Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt / Germany, has sequenced the genome of a pathogen that causes downy mildew on plants in order to analyze how the pathogen manages to infect a plant and continues to live of it. The results show that genes of the pathogen are reduced which leads to lower detection on plant-side. The genes also reveal that the parasitic pathogen is highly dependent on his host, because the pathogen misses important metabolic pathways. The new insight into the pathogen could lead to new strategies to combat the plant disease caused by it in the future. The results have been published a short time ago in „Science“.